Hope Conference Speakers

Frederic Reamer, PhD
Professor, Graduate School of Social Work
Rhode Island College

Frederic G. Reamer, PhD, is Professor in the Graduate Program of the School of Social Work, Rhode Island College, where he has been on the faculty since 1983.  His research and teaching have addressed a wide range of human service issues, including mental health, health care, criminal justice, public welfare, and professional ethics.

Dr. Reamer has served as a social worker in correctional and mental health settings.  He has also taught at the University of Chicago and the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Reamer has served as director of the National Juvenile Justice Assessment Center of the US Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; as senior policy advisor to the Governor of Rhode Island; and as a commissioner of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation, the state housing finance agency.

Dr. Reamer also served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Social Work Education and as associate editor of the National Association of Social Workers Encyclopedia of Social Work (20th edition). Dr. Reamer has conducted extensive research on professional ethics.  He has been involved in several national research projects sponsored by The Hastings Center, the Carnegie Corporation, the Haas Foundation, and the Scattergood Program for the Applied Ethics of Behavioral Healthcare at the Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania.  He is the author of numerous books and articles. He has been an essayist on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition (“This I Believe” series), a commentator on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, and a guest on various radio broadcasts.

Dr. Reamer has lectured extensively nationally and internationally on the subjects of professional ethics and professional malpractice and liability.  He chaired the national task force that wrote the current Code of Ethics adopted by the National Association of Social Workers.  Dr. Reamer is the recipient of many awards, his most recent are the Neil J. Houston, Jr. Memorial Award for “dedicated service and citizen contribution toward the criminal justice profession and the public interest” (2009), and the Edith Abbott Award from the University of Chicago for “distinguished service to society and outstanding contributions at the local, national or international levels” (2005).

Dr. Reamer received his PhD in social work from the University of Chicago.

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